Richie Murphy (born 29 July 1974)Profile at ItsRugby.co.uk is an Irish rugby union coach and former player. After three successful seasons as head coach of the Ireland national under-20 rugby union team, he became head coach of Ulster in 2024.
He was educated at Presentation College, Bray, and captained the school to the Leinster Schools Junior Cup in 1990.Profile at Ultimate Rugby He played out-half for Greystones, Clontarf, Carlow and Old Belvedere in the All-Ireland League, represented Leinster,"Leinster and Ireland kicking coach Richie Murphy always looking for solutions", The42, 30 April 2014 including two appearances in the 1998–99 Heineken Cup. and turned down opportunities to play professionally in England and Italy, preferring to stay in Ireland. He was the All-Ireland League's record points scorer until 2017, when he was overtaken by Dolphin's Barry Keeshan."16 seasons of AIL rugby come to an end for the record-breaking Barry Keeshan today", The42, 14 April 2018
He worked for Leinster as a player development officer, and became the province's Senior Skills and Kicking Coach in 2010,Leinster Rugby bio, archived 2 December 2014 helping to develop players like Johnny Sexton, Ian Madigan and Fergus McFadden. Sexton would phone him for guidance while at the 2011 Rugby World Cup with Ireland. In 2013 he was backs coach for Emerging Ireland for the Tbilisi Cup under head coach Allen Clarke."Murphy keen to kick on with Schmidt", Irish Examiner, 15 May 2013 He became skills and kicking coach for the senior Ireland team in 2013, being appointed to the role full-time in 2015.Richie Murphy profile, IRFU, accessed 28 May 2024 He became head coach of the Ireland national under-20 rugby union team in 2021, taking over from Kieran Campbell."Richie Murphy named as new Ireland under-20 head coach", The Irish Times, 29 March 2021 Under his leadership Ireland won two Grand Slams in a row in the 2022 and 2023 Under 20s Six Nations,Cian Tracey, "Ireland U-20s secure second consecutive clean sweep as Richie Murphy promises 'there’s more to come'", Irish Independent, 19 March 2023 were losing finalists in the 2023 World Rugby U20 Championship,Johnny Morton, "Ireland U20 head coach Richie Murphy says squad will leave U20 World Championship as "mature young men" after reaching final", News Letter, 14 July 2023 and finished second and unbeaten in the 2024 Under-20s Six Nations."Under-20 Six Nations: Ireland beat Scotland but miss out on title", BBC Sport, 15 March 2024 After the departure of Dan McFarland, Ulster named Murphy as interim head coach from the end of the 2024 Under-20s Six Nations to the end of the 2023–24 season.John O'Sullivan & Gerry Thornley, "Richie Murphy to take over from Dan McFarland as Ulster head coach", The Irish Times, 21 February 2024 He signed a two-year contract with Ulster in May."Ulster name Murphy permanent boss on two-year deal", BBC Sport, 13 May 2024.
He is the nephew of the former Ireland international Johnny Murphy, and has two sons who are rugby players: Ben Murphy plays scrum-half for Connacht, and Jack Murphy plays out-half for Ulster."'A sideshow for my wife' - Murphy on sons facing each other", BBC Sport, 23 December 2024
Managerial statistics
TeamNationFromToRecordGWDLWin %Ireland U2020212024 25 20 2 3 Ulster2024Present 59 27 2 30 Total 84 47 4 33
References
External links Irish Rugby profile Profile at Front Row Speakers